It’s surreal that Twista [click to read] has been rapping longer than some of the frequenters on this site have been alive. After entering the major stage in 1991, the emcee from the Midwest helped to create a sound out of his native Chicago that resonated beyond Lake Michigan, and has made a lasting impression on many Hip Hop peers who have followed in his footsteps. Having gained national recognition by being named the fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records, and cementing his status as a Hip Hop legend with Do or Die‘s [click to read] “Po’ Pimp”, the artist formerly known as Tung Twista has decided to put on his enterprising cap and present us his burgeoning label of collective artists known as the Get Money Gang (GMG). The commune’s debut, Who$ Got Next, delivers a throwback to the gritty boulevard tales that reflected emcees detailing life on the streets with a poetic tenacity, but it’s the distraction of immodest and grasping rambling that derail the album’s narrative focal point.
Like most emcees that have seen the financial boom of Hip Hop come and go, Twista has decided to take his career in his own hands and go independent-after being on the Atlantic Records roster for more than 10 years. Deciding to sit in the executive producer’s seat, the Adrenaline Rush alum rounded up some of the most heralded emcees on the Chicago underground circuit, including Mello the Guddaman, B Hype and Skooda. Throw in the formulaic R&B element with singers Anya and The Green Girls, and you have the perfect concoction to serve to the industry. But that’s one of the problems with the album, along with the fact that there is way too little of Twista‘s flow. Yung Buk‘s (of Psychodrama) “You Look Good” and Mello’s “Who Suck Cock” serve as unnecessary sexual filler; run of the mill odes to cynical satisfaction after a night of nonstop drinking and clubbing. We also hear Mello on “Ridah.” With a flow that crosses the line of melodramatic storytelling and tongue-distorting syllables, the Guddaman composes a typical ride or die chick ode, with a T-Pain-styled vocoder fill-in as icing the cake. “Watcha Wanna Do” features B Hype and Twista with his only appearance rapping on the album. The Chi-Town legend languidly calls his verse in on a feeble-laced beat, sounding more interested in letting Hype take the track into his own hands. The bright spot on the album may be the head nodding “Dirty Fresh.” Featuring Mav ripping and running over a funky bed of smooth drums and murky synths, the emcee came with his wordplay in tow: “My team go getta’s/ that’s why they call us ox’s/on the corner so long/ old ladies thinking we mailboxes.” In-house producers Toxic and Tight Mike‘s musical creations goes in and out of focus, but they blend plenty of sounds for the artists on the album to work with. “Body” features Anya flipping her sultry vocals on a Chicago House groove and The Green Girls throw in a touch of ’90s nostalgia on the New Jack Swing inspired “Boy Meets Girl.”
It seems as if Twista released this album four years too late. After scoring a smash with his Kanye West and Jamie Foxx assisted “Slow Jamz” and getting a double platinum plaque for the album Kamikaze, 2004 would have been the perfect time to release this collection to the masses; but it just might have yielded the same results. We all know how fickle the music industry and it’s consumer can be; so that’s even more reason for Twista to stick to his innovative roots and deliver an album where we can hear his rapid, signature voice prominently and clearly; because in this day and age of Hip Hop, it’s do or die.
